EP. 175 — Pool Party

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer. 

Angela [00:00:04] And I’m Angela Kinsey. 

Jenna [00:00:06] We were on The Office together 

Angela [00:00:07] And we’re best friends. 

Jenna [00:00:08] And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you. 

Angela [00:00:12] Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. 

Jenna [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Hello! 

Angela [00:00:24] Hi!

Jenna [00:00:25] We’re going to make a real splash today. 

Angela [00:00:27] A little splish splash. 

Jenna [00:00:29] We’re having a Pool Party! It is season eight, episode 12, written by Owen Ellickson. This was a new writer to our staff. This is its first episode. And directed by, Action!  

Both [00:00:41] Charles McDougall. 

Jenna [00:00:43] Here is your summary: In the midst of his divorce, Robert California throws a pool party for his employees at his soon to be sold house. Meanwhile, Jim tries to sneak out early and Erin enlists Dwight to flirt with her to try to make Andy jealous. 

Angela [00:00:59] Oh my goodness. The cringe factor on their flirting was, I don’t know, DEFCON five. 

Jenna [00:01:10] Fast fact number one, today is a location breakdown. We got a lot of fan mail about this crazy house. Andy C from Durham, North Carolina, who said, This house is incredible. Is it real? And from Sarah in Kingwood, Texas, who said, Was each room shown, including the pool, all one house and location? Thanks for your questions. We got all the deets. 

Angela [00:01:37] We did. Jenna reached out to Steve Burgess, and I reached out to Matt Flynn. 

Jenna [00:01:41] Steve Burgess said that Pool Party was one of the most complicated and expensive episodes we ever shot of The Office, and it all came down to locations. Steve said they spent 12 hours driving around in a van looking at different houses with swimming pools, and they could not find one that worked. So they ended up renting two different houses! 

Angela [00:02:04] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:02:04] One for when they go on the house tour and one for the swimming scenes. 

Angela [00:02:09] Yes, I went to the house for the swimming scenes. I didn’t do the tour. You know, Angela Martin doesn’t go on the tour. So I have my own personal stories I’m going to share about that house. But Matt Flynn, who was now our production designer, he shared some great nuggets, lady. 

Jenna [00:02:25] Okay. 

Angela [00:02:26] First of all, he said the script called for very specific things, that the character of James Spader was extremely wealthy and somewhat mysterious and should have a grand residence, which included an indoor pool, as one might find around Scranton, Pennsylvania. And then his email to me, he said, So let’s start there. Locations scoured San Fernando Valley, like Steve said. It was very hard to meet all these demands. And then they heard about this house off of Mulholland Drive that was owned by a famous sports legend that had an indoor pool. They were like, Oh, this is going to check all the boxes! It was not available. And they made multiple offers over and over again and they said, no. 

Jenna [00:03:16] Wow. 

Angela [00:03:17] So they had to continue their search. 

Jenna [00:03:19] Well, eventually they found two houses, and fast fact number two is a breakdown of those houses. So let’s start with the one they used for the house on the tour. This was shot at a real house in Encino, California. Steve Burgess said the houses on the street were all incredible. The Jackson family had a house that was like one block away from this house. But we took out the owner’s real furniture and we put in our own. Steve said the furniture was like so expensive we could not afford to mess up their real furniture. We added all of the neon that was in the media room. That was us. And I guess there was a giant painting like the size of an entire wall- steve sent me a picture of it- and we couldn’t remove it, so we had to rope it off so that we didn’t damage it. It looks like a museum. Like how you rope things off in a museum. I guess this painting was worth a fortune. There was also an outdoor pool at this house that was in the backyard, and we had to avoid showing it out any of other windows so that it wouldn’t ruin the story that Robert had an indoor pool.

Angela [00:04:20] Yes, Matt said this Encino house was a fantastic 1980s era mansion. He said it had a brutalist design, a sophisticated and elegant board poured concrete residence offset with panels of smooth Venetian plaster panels and other high end elements, but no indoor pool. 

Jenna [00:04:41] The house with the pool was in South Pasadena. But here’s the thing. It also was not an indoor pool. It was sort of like an indoor outdoor pool. 

Angela [00:04:54] Yes. 

Jenna [00:04:55] Steve sent me a picture of this as well, and it was sort of like half outdoors with a big door that led to it a partial indoor pool area. 

Angela [00:05:04] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:05:05] So he said that our crews built a bunch of fake walls in order to enclose the whole pool. It took, like, 24 hours a day for three days. We also had to lay down a complicated electrical grid so that we could light the room. Steve said every light had something called a shock blocker so that if something fell in the pool, it would cut off power before anyone got hurt. But this was a massive construction job. 

Angela [00:05:33] Massive. Okay, so I have some photos I took from this episode that I will share in our stories. One photo I took is just everyone hanging out, and you can see all the lights that they had to put around the pool when we were filming. They are right next to the pool. So yeah, it’s a good thing they had that. What were they called? 

Jenna [00:05:51] Shock blockers. 

Angela [00:05:52] Yeah, the shock blockers. Here’s what Matt said about the Pasadena house, which, by the way, was 30 miles away from the Encino house. So imagine the back and forth. He said this house was spectacular. It was built in the 1960s and had a mondrian color palette. He said these two houses did not match in any way. 

Jenna [00:06:12] Oh, my gosh. 

Angela [00:06:13] So they had to decide which look of the house they wanted. They picked the look of the Encino house, and then they had to incorporate that design onto the Pasadena house. That included cladding all the existing interior surfaces with walls that resembled the board poured concrete and the same Venetian panels from the Encino house. And all of this had to happen within one week. 

Jenna [00:06:38] That is bonkers. 

Angela [00:06:40] Bonkers. And he said, Pasadena has very strict rules regarding any production company interrupting their, quote, placid environment. 

Jenna [00:06:50] I know this because we used to shoot Splitting Up Together at a house in Pasadena, and they have very strict rules about when you can enter and leave neighborhoods. 

Angela [00:07:01] Yes. 

Jenna [00:07:01] They call it tail lights out. That means I need to see your tail lights 

Both [00:07:05] leaving 

Jenna [00:07:07] As of 10 p.m.. 

Angela [00:07:09] He said all the construction crews were doubled. They doubled the size of the crews to meet this challenge. He said, and I quote, It was a real cluster F, but we had such limited hours to work. And he said there were all of these parking restrictions in Pasadena in the neighborhood. 

Jenna [00:07:28] I remember that, too. 

Angela [00:07:29] So I remember this because our trailers were very far away and we had to be shuttled back and forth, and so did the crews. They parked our trailers at a shopping center, like a good distance from this neighborhood. 

Jenna [00:07:41] Yes, they have rules about parking trailers in neighborhoods, like cast changing rooms and trailers and big trucks. 

Angela [00:07:49] Matt wanted to give a shout out to the construction, scenic painters, and set decorating crews because he said they were absolute masters at their game and produced a glorious finished environment for this particularly quirky episode. He was told at the time this single episode’s constructions costs were more than the first three or four seasons costs combined. 

Jenna [00:08:10] Yes. 

Angela [00:08:11] Matt said he’s also been very grateful to the episode’s director, Charles McDougall, for his support. He said once they wrapped, Charles gave him a very fine bottle of wine and a card which read, We had no right to be able to get this episode shot last week. You made the right call on the locations and designed them brilliantly. Thanks so much for all of the good work. 

Jenna [00:08:32] That’s Charles McDougall right there 

Angela [00:08:33] That’s Charles McDougal. 

Jenna [00:08:35] He works you hard, but he appreciates you. 

Angela [00:08:37] He sure does. 

Jenna [00:08:39] Well, next up is fast fact three, which I titled cringiest episode. You brought this up earlier, Angela. We got a fan mail flurry on this topic, actually. I’m going to read one from Melody S in Olive Branch, Mississippi, who said, I work in an office and thought how awkward it would be for me to be in a bathing suit with all of my coworkers who I only see at the office. Was it weird and awkward for everyone to be in bathing suits in front of their coworkers? 

Angela [00:09:08] Yes! Yes, it was. I mean, we weren’t the cast of Baywatch. Okay, fine. Baywatch, you hire me? Day one I’m in a bathing suit with you. That’s our outfit. That’s what we wear. I know what you look like in a bathing suit from day one. Not the case when you work at a paper company. 

Jenna [00:09:28] So, you know, I was trading messages with Ellie Kemper about this episode, and she sent in some audio clips. And the first one that she sent in without me even asking her this question was on this topic. Let’s listen. 

Ellie Kemper [00:09:44] Hi, Jenna and Angela, This is Ellie. Okay. I have some thoughts about Pool Party. First of all, I loved that episode. I don’t know if you did, but I loved being on location. I’m pretty sure we were in someone’s actual house, right? With an indoor pool? So that was a ton of fun. I will tell you, I don’t know if you had a similar reaction, but when we did the table read the week before, we found out we all had to be in swimsuits for a week. They gave us like five days notice. Five days heads up. Okay, be swim- swimsuit ready! I panicked because it was like I’m pretty sure it was, I don’t know, Winter. It was not a time where you were thinking, Oh, I’m going to be out on the beach in a swimsuit. So I remember, like for three days I did like push ups and then stopped. Anyway, so I that got me swimsuit ready. 

Jenna [00:10:36] Yes! I mean, that’s bonkers. That’s something like if you do a movie, you’re like, here’s everything that’s going to be required of me for this movie. But when you’re on a TV show, you learn the week before what’s required of you the next week. 

Angela [00:10:49] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:10:50] So there’s no prep time. 

Angela [00:10:52] I mean, we’ll get into it. I had to wear a fake preggers belly in a bathing suit. I’m going to get into it later. 

Jenna [00:10:58] Okay. Well, you know, there are so many lists of the cringiest Office episodes and Pool Party never makes the list. However, I have to say, after watching it, this one has moved to the top of the list for me. I think before this it was maybe Prince Family Paper. I found Garden Party quite cringey. I mean, Scott’s Tots is moving down the list for me. 

Angela [00:11:20] That’s saying something. 

Jenna [00:11:21] I know. 

Angela [00:11:22] I’m with you on the cringe factor on this one. There’s a few moments that I was like, Wait, what? Like, I forgot happened. I found an article on cheatsheet.com titled, How The Office Fans Feel about Pool Party. And it came out after this episode was released. I guess NBC’s The Office Instagram had posted a clip from Pool Party and fans quickly took to the comments to name the episode the weirdest office episode in history. 

Jenna [00:11:50] Okay. 

Angela [00:11:51] One comment read, This episode was dot, dot, dot. It was. Let’s just leave it at that. 

Jenna [00:12:01] I think that sums it up. That’s pretty good. 

Jenna [00:12:05] You know, I have a confession about this episode. This was my first time watching it. I did not watch it when it aired. 

Angela [00:12:13] Oh, yeah? 

Jenna [00:12:13] Yeah, I experienced the dot, dot, dot for the very first time. It is truly cringey. 

Angela [00:12:20] I know. 

Jenna [00:12:20] You know, I had read the table draft. They still sent it to me on my maternity leave. And, you know, I actually offered to call in for this episode. I thought Jim and Pam could have a phone call. Like, maybe when Jim is trying to leave Robert’s house. 

Angela [00:12:33] Yeah, like, Pam’s like, Hey, where are you at? 

Jenna [00:12:35] Yes. When are you going to get home? I thought that would put more pressure on him, but the network said no, because. 

Angela [00:12:41] They said you couldn’t call in? 

Jenna [00:12:43] No, because then they’d have to pay me. 

Angela [00:12:45] Ew. 

Jenna [00:12:45] Yeah. But don’t you think that would have been good? 

Angela [00:12:48] I do. 

Jenna [00:12:49] Like, instead of just having no Pam in this episode? I don’t know. But no, they didn’t go for it. 

Angela [00:12:55] I would have liked some Pam in this episode. 

Jenna [00:12:58] Thank you very much. I think so, too. Well, maybe we should go to break and then we’ll come back and talk about this episode that I watched for the very first time. 

Angela [00:13:06] Okay. We are back. This episode kicks off with a Jim prank. But who who’s really being pranked here? 

Jenna [00:13:25] Yes. Dwight returns to his desk and he is disgusted when he realizes he’s sat on a meatball. 

Angela [00:13:32] Yeah, Stanley thinks that’s hilarious. And then Jim shares that without Pam, he doesn’t really have an audience for his pranking of Dwight, and that was half the fun. Until he found Stanley. 

Jenna [00:13:43] However, Stanley has very, very specific tastes. We see a little montage of a variety of pranks, and there’s only one thing that makes Stanley laugh and that is bein’ meatballed.

Angela [00:13:55] Hashtag got meatballed. Well, what we find out is basically Jim has been feeding Dwight and Stanley for weeks. This meatball prank, I mean, when does he have the time? What is, by the way, Pam saying at home when Jim brings 36 meatballs to work and puts them in Dwight’s drawer? 

Jenna [00:14:13] We’ll never know, because I wasn’t in the episode. 

Angela [00:14:15] Uh oh, it’s going to keep coming back, guys. 

Jenna [00:14:19] I’ll have you know, one of the pranks we saw in that montage was a desk made out of Lego. Phil Shea had that desk made. Steve Burgess thought it was very delicate. 

Angela [00:14:28] It was. 

Jenna [00:14:29] We could not get near it or touch it or it would fall apart immediately. 

Angela [00:14:32] Yeah, you couldn’t really set anything on it. You can even see in the episode it dips down. 

Jenna [00:14:36] Yes. Phil was also in charge of all the meatballs and putting a stapler into a giant meatball. I really want to see Phil Shea’s to do lists after he reads an episode. Could you imagine finding one on the street? Have you seen those books? They’re called, like, Found. And they’re just like snippets of, like, maybe it’s like someone’s grocery list or it’s like someone’s receipt. I would love to see a Phil Shea list. 

Angela [00:15:04] Honey, what do you do at work today? I put a stapler in a giant pack of meat. Then I try to figure out how to bake it without melting the stapler. 

Jenna [00:15:13] So crazy. You know, this cold open ends with these guys standing in the parking lot, and they’re so excited because they’re getting free meatballs and they’re eating them. I was grossed out by it because I was like, Are those meatballs still edible? They’ve been in like a desk drawer. 

Angela [00:15:30] Also do you want to eat a meatball someone sat on? 

Jenna [00:15:33] Also, according to Martha Stewart and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the maximum amount of time that a perishable food, including a cooked meat, should sit out is 2 hours. After that, it’s no longer safe to eat. And it doesn’t even matter if you put it in a plastic bag. So I really hope that like more than 2 hours didn’t pass or those guys are going to have like a real exciting time on the toilet later. 

Angela [00:15:59] This might explain one or two mornings for me at college. 

Jenna [00:16:03] Yeah. 

Angela [00:16:04] We used to leave pizza out like in the box. 

Jenna [00:16:07] No. You shouldn’t do that. No. 

Angela [00:16:07] And then the next morning I would have it for breakfast. 

Jenna [00:16:09] No. No, you can’t do that. 

Angela [00:16:12] Oh, Lord. The show starts with Erin at front reception. She’s going to get a phone call. It’s Jessica. And Erin’s going to have a talking head where she says, You know what? She’s not going to be one of those exes who can’t move on. She’s got her life. They have theirs. She’s taking Italian class, which is basically her just eating Italian food. And she even says to Jessica, you know what? You sound pretty today. 

Jenna [00:16:35] Yeah. 

Angela [00:16:36] Oh, Erin. 

Jenna [00:16:37] Andy’s going to have a talking head where he reveals that Jessica met his parents, and they liked her so much they gave him this family ring so he can propose. 

Angela [00:16:47] I mean, he hasn’t been engaged in years. I love that line. 

Jenna [00:16:51] It’s missing the center diamond, though. 

Angela [00:16:53] Well, his parents thought that was better for his brother. 

Jenna [00:16:57] We got a fan question from Adrina A in Malaysia who said, Angela bought Princess Lady with the money she got from selling Andy’s engagement ring on eBay. But now in Pool Party, Andy somehow got the ring back? I’m so confused. Angela, I have to say, we got a lot of fan mail about this. It’s very confusing to people. But the ring that Angela sold is totally different, right? You didn’t get a family heirloom? 

Angela [00:17:22] No, Angela did not get the family heirloom. Maybe Andy’s parents didn’t like her that much to give it up. The ring Andy gave me was like a emerald cut. This is like an oval ring with a big centerpiece. So, no, not the same ring. 

Jenna [00:17:37] I’m glad we could clear that up for people. We got a lot of mail about it. 

Angela [00:17:40] Yes. But you know what? We all know after Garden Party what the favor of Andy’s parents means to him. So the fact that they like Jessica enough to even give him this ring, I feel like Andy, Andy’s going to lock it down. 

Jenna [00:17:53] Lady, I like Jessica. 

Angela [00:17:55] I like Jessica. 

Jenna [00:17:56] I like who Andy is when he’s with Jessica 

Angela [00:17:58] Me too! 

Jenna [00:17:58] I am not rooting for Andy and Erin right now. 

Angela [00:18:01] Me either! 

Jenna [00:18:01] I’m sorry. Maybe I’m supposed to be, but I think Jessica’s fantastic. 

Angela [00:18:05] I like them together. 

Jenna [00:18:07] Me, too! 

Angela [00:18:08] I was trying to think of how to combine their names. You know how people do that? There’s Dwangela. 

Jenna [00:18:12] Yeah. 

Angela [00:18:13] That’s a hard one. 

Jenna [00:18:14] Yeah. 

Angela [00:18:15] Anjessica?

Jenna [00:18:17] Maybe this is why they can’t be together. Because Andin works. Andy and Erin. Andin. 

Angela [00:18:23] Oh Andin does work. Dwangela works. 

Jenna [00:18:26] Jam. 

Angela [00:18:26] Jam. 

Jenna [00:18:27] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:18:28] Mm hmm. Is this a relationship test, if your names can be combined? 

Jenna [00:18:31] I don’t know. 

Angela [00:18:33] Well, Robert California is looking at a house online, and Jim and Oscar and Dwight are really judging it. They just think it’s too big, too much. 

Jenna [00:18:41] Yeah. Jim says it has a The Shining energy to it. 

Angela [00:18:44] I love while they’re just going off on this tacky house, he says, I’m thinking of selling it. It was a great reveal. Here is what the computer screen said. If you are like Jenna and I, you probably zoomed in on that Remax listing. 

Jenna [00:18:58] Yes, that’s right. It has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms. 

Angela [00:19:02] It’s $6,749,000. 

Jenna [00:19:05] It is 11,325 square feet on the inside. And it is on a 26,710 square foot lot, which is a little over half an acre. 

Angela [00:19:16] It’s also already been on the market 42 days. 

Jenna [00:19:19] He’s sweating it. 

Angela [00:19:19] He’s sweating it. That’s why he’s going to have to have it staged. You guys know about houses getting staged, right? 

Jenna [00:19:25] I mean, if you’ve ever watched House Hunters or any like home selling show or like Property Brothers.

Angela [00:19:31] I didn’t know about this until I started to look for house, you know, to buy. And you would go in and there would be like a fakey bedroom set up. And I sat on the bed one time and it was like cardboard. And I was like, What the heck? 

Jenna [00:19:45] What are these people? 

Angela [00:19:46] And I pulled back the covers and it was like a big old box. And I was like, What is happening? And then the realtor explained to me. But I guess there’s a whole thing. People need to see how the space can be used. And a lot of times people put their house up for sale, don’t stage it, and it sits on the market. So I thought it was a nice little detail that it had been on the market 42 days, and then Robert decides to have this last hurrah before the staging folks from Remax come. These are dorky things I get excited about. I’m like, That’s true! He probably did need it staged. It’s kind of a weird looking house. It also says the address is 2374 Oak View Road in Scranton. I looked it up. That doesn’t exist. 

Jenna [00:20:25] I mean, I hope not. 

Angela [00:20:26] Well, I know 

Jenna [00:20:27] For those poor people. 

Angela [00:20:29] I know. Robert explains that he bought this whole mansion because it was going to be like his Playboy mansion. He bought it after watching Eyes Wide Shut, I guess? And then he met his wife, who completely changed it. Now she’s left him. He asked to sell it. They’re even calling his Speakeasy Lounge a rumpus room. Jim chuckles. And, oh, my gosh, You remember in Gettysburg when Andy calls Jim out for being a snarky smartass? Robert is about to do the same. Here’s how it shakes down. Jim chuckles at Robert, and Robert is not having it. He says, Does my turmoil amuse you, Jim? And Jim’s like, I’m sorry, I thought you’re making a joke. Robert says, What could you possibly have found funny in what I said? What was the joke you thought you heard? Jim is now really backpedaling. He’s like, I guess I thought you were approaching it with more of a sarcasm than misery. Kind of laughing at your own pain, sad clown thing? Robert says, Oh, yes. How hilarious is it to laugh at clowns, the painted jesters of the dying circus industry? Very funny, Jim. I get it. 

Jenna [00:21:39] Oh, my gosh. 

Angela [00:21:41] It’s so good. I had to watch the scene twice because this is back to back Jim getting called out on being a smartass. 

Jenna [00:21:49] Well, next up, Meredith is going to offer Erin a ride to this party. In this scene, she reveals, It’s really easy for me because you live right by me. And Erin’s like, How do you know that? And Meredith says, Because after the Christmas party Andy followed you home, because he’s worried that Robert California was going to stick it in ya. 

Angela [00:22:08] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:22:09] So Erin’s like, Oh, wow. 

Angela [00:22:11] Erin’s like, he still likes me! 

Jenna [00:22:14] Yeah. 

Angela [00:22:15] This is going to start Erin on a whole spiral. She is giddy. She thinks Andy has become her weird stalker. She’s very excited. 

Jenna [00:22:24] The gang are now going to arrive to Robert’s house. They’re going to start by feeling the temperature of the pool. Gabe says he thinks the pool is 82, maybe 82 and a half degrees. He’s not right. But he’s very close. This made me laugh, Angela, because back during my bread making days, you know, you have to take the temperature of all the ingredients and make sure that you get the exact right temperature balance to make a good sourdough. To make really any good bread dough. You have to take the temperature of the air, the temperature of the flour and the temperature of the water. There was a time when I could stick my finger in a bowl of water and tell you what temperature it was. Like accurately. And you know, my bread baking mentor, Bonnie, that first time it happened, I texted her and I said, I can do this! I can tell the temperature of water by just touching it. 

Angela [00:23:18] That’s awesome. Well, Jenna, in this scene, I call busted. 

Jenna [00:23:22] What is it? 

Angela [00:23:23] I’m bustin myself. 

Jenna [00:23:25] What are you doing? 

Angela [00:23:26] My character is in her last trimester of her pregnancy, but gets on her hands and knees, gets on all fours in a dress to bend over and touch the water? I don’t think so. I call busted. 

Jenna [00:23:42] Hmm. I’m trying to think if I did any hands and knees poses in my yoga class when I was super pregnant. 

Angela [00:23:49] Yeah, in your yoga class. 

Jenna [00:23:51] I guess you’re right. 

Angela [00:23:52] But are you just like, Oh, I’m going to be at someone’s house super pregnant in a dress, but don’t worry, I’m going to drop to the ground so I can feel this pool water? I don’t think so. 

Jenna [00:24:01] Now Jim is going to have a talking head where he explains he’s the master of leaving parties early. He’s got a whole formula for how he’s going to get out of this party. 

Angela [00:24:08] I totally believe this, by the way. I believe if anyone could sneak out of a party early, it would be Jim. I mean, I have a friend like this. 

Jenna [00:24:15] Listen, he couldn’t get out of that dinner party. I don’t know why he thinks he’s getting out of this pool party. 

Angela [00:24:20] I know, but we all have someone like that, right? We have a friend who we will look up and we’ll be like, Where’s Neil? He’s gone. 

Jenna [00:24:28] I leave parties early. 

Angela [00:24:29] I know. You’re really good at it. 

Jenna [00:24:31] I’m pretty good. Jim’s not wrong, by the way. He has a good strategy. 

Angela [00:24:35] He does. His strategy does not work this time, though, because in his, like, make a big, flashy moment, he takes this picture with Robert, and Robert’s like, Come on, tour the house. Come on. 

Jenna [00:24:46] Yeah. It’s going to be hard for him to get out of this house tour. Meanwhile, Jessica walks over to Andy and he’s fiddling in his pocket. He had been looking at the engagement ring, and he has to put in his pocket real quick. 

Angela [00:24:57] Why did he bring it? Why? 

Jenna [00:24:59] I don’t know. Was he going to propose tonight? 

Angela [00:25:01] At a pool party? 

Jenna [00:25:02] Without replacing the center diamond first? 

Angela [00:25:05] I’m just like, why does he have it? 

Jenna [00:25:07] Well, we got a fan question from Jen S in California who said, Cringe alert! This is my pick for cringiest episode, but it also has one of my favorite lines that makes me laugh out loud every time. It’s Andy’s line when Jessica asks, What are you doing? And he says, Flicking a bug off my wiener. Please tell me, were there any alts to that line? No, Jen, that was the scripted line and it was always a scripted line. There you have it. 

Angela [00:25:34] It’s also how Ed delivered it. He’s like, Flickin a bug off my wiener. Like it’s like the yoosjh. 

Jenna [00:25:40] Exactly. 

Angela [00:25:42] Erin is going to have a talking head where she lays out her plan for this party, which is basically in her mind, Andy is not over her and she’s going to try to make him jealous again. 

Jenna [00:25:50] Oh, yes. She’s going to get Dwight. 

Angela [00:25:53] I know. 

Jenna [00:25:54] To flirt with her. 

Angela [00:25:55] Wrong person, Erin! Wrong person. Nothing casual about Dwight. There was an alternate Erin talking head where she summarizes her relationship with Andy. I’m going to read it to you. 

Jenna [00:26:08] Okay. 

Angela [00:26:09] You date a guy, you find out he was engaged to your coworker, so you throw cake at him. It’s over. You start liking him again so you ask him out with a puppet show. He says no. Then he follows you home to make sure that you don’t kiss somebody. Then he ignores you at a pool party. Am I right, ladies? I mean, when you hear it laid out like that, you kind of have to think maybe this isn’t supposed to happen. This relationship. 

Jenna [00:26:33] I’m not for it. 

Angela [00:26:35] I know. 

Jenna [00:26:35] I don’t know what to say. I think the signs point to there’s someone else. 

Angela [00:26:40] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:26:41] Now we’re going to have a scene with some Stanley Sass that I appreciated very much. And so did Kristi D from Oregon, who said, I noticed that Stanley moved Andy’s pants to sit down by the pool, because Andy had thrown his pants on a chair. And Stanley says, Pants only need a chair if there’s a person in them. Stanley, I feel you. You know, one of my pet peeves is when you go to the airport and you’re trying to find a seat at your gate, and everyone’s put all their bags all over the seats. It’s like one human being and then like, two extra chairs for all their stuff. The stuff goes on the floor, the people go in the chairs. I’m with Stanley. 

Angela [00:27:23] I felt like it was a very mom thing to say, you know? 

Jenna [00:27:28] I guess it is. 

Angela [00:27:30] Well, Andy does find his pants on the floor. There’s no ring in the pocket anymore. 

Jenna [00:27:35] He’s panicking a little bit. Meanwhile, Erin is over trying to enlist Dwight in her plan and he kicks her into the pool. 

Angela [00:27:43] I know. I also love the detail that everyone brought bathing suits, but Dwight is going to swim in some old cut off jean shorts. 

Jenna [00:27:50] Yeah. Well, I had to ask Ellie about getting pushed in the pool and also her scenes with Rainn. And here is what she said. 

Ellie Kemper [00:27:58] I remember. I remember- you know, Rainn is so weird. So you never know if he’s joking or not. But he was a very fun person to do that episode with because he’s like somewhat inscrutable and totally, totally just like a big brother. So it was just fun to have any scene with him. But I just remember like sort of horsing around with him in a very sibling kind of way, which which makes my heart warm to think about it. 

Angela [00:28:30] Well, I can tell you right now that if you’re in a scene with Rainn, he fully commits. So if they said Dwight kicks Erin in the pool, you better get ready cuz you’re going to get kicked across the pool. 

Jenna [00:28:42] We’re back on the tour and Robert is showing everyone the parlor, a.k.a. his sex den, that Susan used as a pilates studio. 

Angela [00:28:52] Yes. There was a line he said earlier where he said, A beautiful monster stole my 40s and then redid my house. It just makes me laugh, thinking of how he saw this house and then what she did with it. This room that they’re in, it’s basically a concrete wall with two big, really tall, red vase things? It looks like there’s urns sitting on top of these red pillars on either side of the fireplace. There is a very, very low brown couch with no back support. And one wall that looks like an old metal garage door to me. And then there’s the wine collection behind a skinny door. He says there’s 1200 bottles. How do you even get in there to get them all? I don’t know. I clearly had issues with everything in this room. I didn’t like anything about it. I vote no on this room. But Oscar is very excited about this wine collection. In the script, it said, Toby reaches for a random bottle. Oscar sees it. Oscar says, A 95 Chateau Margaux. Wow. You know your wine. So I had to look up this wine. 

Jenna [00:30:02] I did as well. It’s real. 

Angela [00:30:03] It’s real. And it’s expensive. 

Jenna [00:30:06] Yeah. Depending on which wine you would have chosen that they produced in 1995, it would have cost anywhere from $900 to $8000. 

Angela [00:30:16] Yeah. And here’s how it’s described: It has a medium intensity of deeply pigmented ruby red. The nose is cedary and high toned with a chalky mineral touch. On the palate, abundant dark fruit has power and a smooth texture, but the intense core of cassis fruit needs to open. There are notes of cedar and tobacco tightly woven into the fruit.  

Jenna [00:30:42] I don’t know what that means. 

Angela [00:30:42] They got all of that from a sip of wine. That is pretty amazing to me. I’ll tell you who would have appreciated this wine description. 

Jenna [00:30:49] Who? 

Angela [00:30:49] Oscar. 

Jenna [00:30:50] Yes, well, he’s a member of the Finer Things Club for a reason, Angela. 

Angela [00:30:53] Well, excuse me. I guess that’s how they roll. So would me and my box wine not be admitted? 

Jenna [00:30:59] What do you think? 

Angela [00:31:01] I’ll tell you something. When you finish box wine, save the bag, fill it with air. You can use it as a pool floatie. 

Jenna [00:31:07] Oh, wow. 

Angela [00:31:07] This might be why I’m not in the Finer Things Club. By the way, that is what I learned from growing up in the seventies, because my mom’s friends would have these pool floaties that were odd shapes, and they were box wine bags. 

Jenna [00:31:21] Wait, that’s real? I thought you were making a joke. 

Angela [00:31:23] No. My mom’s friend had these little squares in her pool, and they were the bags from the box wine. 

Jenna [00:31:29] Huh? Like, they’re so tiny. 

Angela [00:31:32] They were little silver squares. We were little. We’d float on them. 

Jenna [00:31:36] So the moms would drink the box wine and then fill the bags… 

Angela [00:31:40] With air. 

Jenna [00:31:41] And then toss them to their kids in the pool. 

Angela [00:31:43] Yes. 

Jenna [00:31:44] All right. Okay. 

Angela [00:31:46] Hashtag grew up in the seventies! 

Jenna [00:31:50] And then someone’s throwin lawn darts over on the side. Good times. So Steve Burgess says we used the real label for that wine, but we replaced the wine with grape juice. What happened to the wine that had been inside that real bottle? I’d like to know. 

Angela [00:32:06] Wow. 

Jenna [00:32:07] You know, lady, I once bid on some wine at a silent auction, and I got six bottles of wine. It was only like a few hundred dollars, and it was a good cause. Well, my dad, who is my dad, as soon as we got home, he started googling each bottle to see if I’d gotten a good deal. Did I get my money’s worth? 

Angela [00:32:25] My husband would do the exact same thing. And has. 

Jenna [00:32:28] One of the bottles was worth 1200 dollars. 

Angela [00:32:31] What?! 

Jenna [00:32:32] Yes. 

Angela [00:32:33] What did you do with it? 

Jenna [00:32:34] It’s still in my wine fridge. I’m like, afraid to drink it because I’m like, What is the occasion that calls for a 1200 dollar bottle of wine? It’s probably going to go bad. But I, I was overwhelmed. 

Angela [00:32:46] Oh, well don’t let it go bad. 

Jenna [00:32:47] I know. We put a special piece of tape on it so we know which one it is. 

Angela [00:32:51] Do you know when? Like, does it have an expiration date? Like, what’s the rule? 

Jenna [00:32:56] I mean wine turns eventually, right? 

[00:32:58] Yeah 

[00:32:59] But I don’t know. This made me think of it when I was looking up the how much the Chateau Margaux costs. 

Angela [00:33:05] I have it. I have it. 

Jenna [00:33:06] What? 

Angela [00:33:07] When you can put your hair in a high ponytail. 

Jenna [00:33:10] Yes! 

Angela [00:33:10] With your broken shoulder. 

Jenna [00:33:12] Yes. 

Angela [00:33:13] You get to open that bottle of wine. 

Jenna [00:33:15] Okay. I think we’re just a few months away. 

Angela [00:33:18] Okay. 

Jenna [00:33:19] So get ready. 

Angela [00:33:19] You better call me. I’m coming over. 

Jenna [00:33:21] Okay, I will. We also had a fan question from the scene from Justin P in Fresno, California, who said, Was the bottle of wine that John had in this episode smaller than the others or does he just have really big hands? Justin, I went- after I read your question, I looked at it and I was like, Oh my gosh, it is like an optical illusion. Like maybe John just has giant hands. But no, his bottle of wine is smaller. It was actually scripted that Jim purposely grabs a half bottle of wine because he is reluctantly on this tour. So his bottle is smaller. 

Angela [00:33:56] Ohh. That is a really good catch. 

Jenna [00:33:58] I know. It made me laugh. 

Angela [00:33:59] Well, let’s take a break, because when we come back, Dwight is going to sign on to be Erin’s accomplice in trying to get Andy’s attention. You know what’s the best way to flirt with someone? 

Jenna [00:34:21] I mean, I think I know the way it’s not the best way, but go on. 

Angela [00:34:24] Maybe just poke ’em in the face over and over. Like, flick their nose, Poke ’em in the face. That’s how you flirt. 

Jenna [00:34:33] Oh, my gosh. 

Angela [00:34:35] How awkward are Dwight and Erin at flirting? Oh, my gosh. Also in this scene, I have a Juicy sweat pants sighting. 

Jenna [00:34:42] Oh, I saw them. 

Angela [00:34:43] They were all the rage. Kelly’s wearing purple Juicy sweat pants. 

Jenna [00:34:47] Yes. She finds the engagement ring on the ground. What is this? Oh, boy. I’m sorry. If you find a piece of jewelry on the ground at someone’s home, do you not take it to the host? 

Angela [00:34:58] Do you not say, Hey, did someone drop an engagement ring, guys? No. 

Jenna [00:35:02] Finders keepers as far as Kelly’s concerned. 

Angela [00:35:04] You put them in that Juicy sweat pants pocket? 

Jenna [00:35:06] I guess so. 

Angela [00:35:08] We’re in Robert’s fancy kitchen where he’s talking about, you know, his fantasy of eating a leg of mutton, etc., etc.. But this is where Oscar decides to invite Toby to join his wine club. 

Jenna [00:35:21] Yes. Because Toby is pretending like he knows good wine. 

Angela [00:35:24] Mm hmm. There’s a Toby talking head where he says, I’m playing a dangerous game. And then he chugs his wine. I don’t understand how Paul is drinking this. I was like, what is happening. What is happening? I don’t even know how to describe it. He, like, does this thing- and I know no one can see me. But he goes, like- it’s such a weird- he like wraps his lips around- I don’t even know. It made me laugh out loud. I don’t think it was intentional. Maybe that’s how Paul drinks from a bottle. I don’t know. 

Jenna [00:35:57] Well, I think it was very late when we filmed this talking head, because we did get a question from someone who pointed out that this talking head, it looks a little different from other talking heads. And Steve Burgess said, Yeah, we were rushing. In post they had to kind of, like, make up for the fact that, like- 

Angela [00:36:12] It was pitch dark out? 

Jenna [00:36:13] Yes. There was no light coming in. Like, we caught this as quickly as we could. So, I don’t know, maybe everyone was just a little loopy at this point. 

Angela [00:36:21] Yeah, maybe they were like, Paul, remember at the end, you have to chug it. So he just quickly like.

Jenna [00:36:25] Yeah, I guess so. 

Angela [00:36:26] Well, Meredith is very impressed by Robert’s swimming pool. She said it’s a choice pool. No top scum, no Band-Aids. 

Jenna [00:36:34] That’s an A-plus pool for Meredith. 

Angela [00:36:36] I mean, there’s nothing grosser than being in a swimming pool and then, you know, doing a lap, and then all of a sudden, you come up and there’s a Band-Aid that’s floated by you. 

Jenna [00:36:45] It’s true. Angela, we got a fan question from Jake M in North Carolina, and I really didn’t know where to place this in the episode, but I thought it was worth discussing. Jake said, Can we talk about how when Robert California came to interview to be the regional manager at Dunder Mifflin, he was already living in this house. So how in the world did he have this house? And why did he think that a manager job at a printer paper company was a good fit for him? 

Angela [00:37:15] What is your theory? I have my theory. 

Jenna [00:37:18] Share. I have no theory. I actually hadn’t thought about it until Jake mentioned it. 

Angela [00:37:21] Well, Jake. Here’s my idea. Tell me what you think. I sort of see Robert as this very wealthy, eccentric guy. I don’t know where his money comes from. Maybe it’s generational money. 

Jenna [00:37:32] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:37:33] And he’s just bored, and he just decides to do things. He’s a little bit of a con man. I mean, he’s never sold paper before, but I think he just likes to, like, dabble in things. And this is what he decided to do that month. 

Jenna [00:37:47] Right. Almost like the job is more of a hobby. 

Angela [00:37:50] Exactly! 

Jenna [00:37:50] Something to fill his time. 

Angela [00:37:52] Something to fill his time. A way to people watch. A way to play games with people. Remember how on Halloween he did that crazy long monologue about being afraid? 

Jenna [00:38:01] Yeah. I like your theory. 

Angela [00:38:02] Thank you. I just think he’s a bored rich guy. 

Jenna [00:38:05] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:38:06] Val was going to ask Darryl to go in the water with her. 

Jenna [00:38:09] Yeah, but Darryl is is hesitating. 

Angela [00:38:12] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:38:12] He’s, like, nervous about taking off his shirt in front of Val. Basically, he feels a little insecure. 

Angela [00:38:19] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:38:20] We have a fan catch from Zoey B in Charlotte, North Carolina, who says, At 12 minutes, Meredith is wet and telling Darryl and Val they need to get in the pool. But in the very next scene at 12 minutes and 10 seconds, in the background of Darryl’s talking head, Meredith is completely dry and just dipping her toes in. 

Angela [00:38:36] Zoe, I caught that too. She’s not just wet, she is drenched head to toe. Her hair is wet. She’s clearly been in the water a while. And then in the next shot, she’s totally dry and just putting her feet in. I thought that was a great catch. Also, in the background of Darryl’s talking head, you can see Val. She’s doing laps. A few other people are also swimming. 

Jenna [00:38:57] Yes. And it was so funny because when we were doing our interview with Ameenah for Christmas Wishes, she brought this episode up. She had a lot to say about filming Pool Party, and we said, We have to save this and play it when we break down Pool Party. 

Angela [00:39:12] Oh yeah. Ameenah and I really commiserated about being in that pool. 

Jenna [00:39:16] So here it is. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:39:18] So I don’t know if this made it to the blooper, but I do like to tell it because I found it to be funny and life threatening, which was when we went and we were shooting at Robert California’s house and we’re at the pool. And so I’m a decent swimmer. They were like, We’re gonna put you in the pool. And I was like, Bet, let’s go. Pool time. And so I had very long hair at that time, I had dreadlocks. And so I put my locks up on top of my head because I’m sensible. And that’s what you do when you’re going to go swimming in dreadlocks. You do not swim with them down, not with the amount that I had. So I put them up on top of my head and they were like, Oh, no, no, no, no. You’re gonna look much better if you take them down. I’m like, pardon moi? And they’re like, Take them down, you know? And I was like, Oh God. And of course you do it because you know what they’re going for. They thought it would look sexier. But remember, they covered that room, they heated the pool, they heated the room. Remember, it was warm in there so that none of us-  

Angela [00:40:07] It was so muggy in there. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:08] Yes. But they had me in that pool, y’all. And that water got in my hair and it was like an albatross. 

Angela [00:40:13] Oh, no. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:14] And they had me doing laps. 

Angela [00:40:16] Yes! 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:17] And I was like, Look here. I’m athletic, don’t get me wrong, but Jesus, what are y’all trying to do to me in here? And I literally, like by by the end, I felt like it was literally just my head was above. I was doing like that, just that survival swim where you literally just your mouth and your nose are out of the water. And I’m like, Yeah, that’s what happened in- 

Angela [00:40:36] Oh my gosh. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:36] In that pool. 

Jenna [00:40:38] Yes. In the background you’re doing laps. 

Angela [00:40:40] Yes. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:41] Yes. 

Jenna [00:40:42] Yes. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:40:43] I’m doing laps and almost dying. Like yes, that is what is happening in the background is Val is literally about to drown because of her locks. 

Angela [00:40:51] I wish I would have known that because I would have come over. They had me doing laps and my character was fake pregnant and they bought me a pregnancy bathing suit and they put a big pregnancy pillow. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:06] I remember that! 

Angela [00:41:06] But guess what happened? They wanted me doing laps and that pillow absorbed all the water. So now I’m trying to do laps and I’m getting heavier and heavier and I’m starting to sink. I was like, Guys, when we were like rehearsing, I said, I’m going to need a kickboard. I am sinking! 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:21] Get it. So you know exactly what I’m talking about. 

Angela [00:41:25] I’m like, I would have shared my kickboard with you! 

Jenna [00:41:28] They were just slowly killing all the actresses on The Office in that pool party. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:32] That’s what was happening. We were literally- we were on the death walk. 

Angela [00:41:36] Drowning. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:37] Oof! Like, I had no idea you went through the same thing. But I remember that pregnancy pillow now. I remember that. 

Angela [00:41:43] I couldn’t get out of the pool! It weighed so much!  

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:46] I had my own trauma. I didn’t have bandwidth for your trauma. Like, I really… 

Angela [00:41:50] I had no idea you were going through that. I was so trying not to drown. And you know what? When I went to get out of the pool, it was so heavy. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:41:58] Yeah. 

Angela [00:41:58] And then when I stood up, I just looked like I was peeing myself for hours because it would just drain out of the pillow. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:42:05] Yeah, no, 100%. And my my hair was wet, like, all day, which is not what you want for locks. 

Angela [00:42:09] Oh, yeah 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:42:10] Like it was a day and a half for me. That was the day and a half. But we had that spectacular view out on that- it was like a veranda or some situation where we were out. We just, we were able to put our chairs out there and just kind of look out at the valley. 

Angela [00:42:22] Just hang out. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:42:22] It was a spectacular situation out there. But yeah, shooting was I was like, All right, let’s go. 

Angela [00:42:30] Oh my god, I had no idea. 

Ameenah Kaplan [00:42:31] Yeah. 

Angela [00:42:34] The minute Ameenah brought up how hot it was in there was such a visceral memory. It was cold out this time of year, so to make sure we all stayed warm, they had like the normally like the tubes that would bring AC in, but they brought in heat. And then we were in a pool and then there were all the lights and it was all trapped and it was getting muggier and muggier. But then you would go out if you didn’t have a scene and it was too far to go to our trailers. So they had a few bedrooms they kind of made into areas where you could hang out. I have a picture because we would get really cold when we weren’t in scenes, so they would have robes or those warming jackets for us and we’d kind of be wet. It was so gross. I would want to get out of that bathing suit as soon as I could, because like I said, there was a full spongy pillow inside my bathing suit that was completely absorbing all the water. So even if I started to dry, I would have water running down my legs. It was disgusting. And so I have this picture of us all just kind of lounging and everyone’s on their phones. I have that picture. And then on another day that we filmed, they said that we could go and hang out in the tennis court pool house. 

Jenna [00:43:51] Oh? 

Angela [00:43:51] Yeah, that it had a ping pong table, but we shouldn’t touch anything else in there. So there was this room, it overlooked the tennis court, but it had a ping pong table. And so me and Brian and Oscar and Zach Woods all went and played ping pong. And it was so much fun. And it had this gorgeous view like Ameenah’s talking about. People heard about the tennis court room and they started to come down to hang out. 

Jenna [00:44:13] I have to say, the more I’ve learned about this episode and after I heard your experience and Ameenah’s experience, Ellie’s experience, I think maybe I’m glad I missed this one. 

Angela [00:44:24] I was going to say, Yeah, this is not- 

Jenna [00:44:25] I’ll stay home. This is one to miss.

Angela [00:44:26] This was not the one you want to come back for. Yeah. Dwight and Erin have shifted their flirting from poking each other in the face to feeding each other chips, kind of crushing potato chips on your face. I don’t know what’s happening. Erin has a line where she says, I- it’s not working. I think sexy eating is a dead end. I just want to say this. I want you all to hear me out. I think sexy eating is always a dead end. 

Jenna [00:44:52] I don’t know. 

Angela [00:44:52] No. I don’t want to see you sexy eat ever. 

Jenna [00:44:55] I don’tk now. I think- 

Angela [00:44:56] Where? Where have you thought eating is sexy? 

Jenna [00:44:59] I’ll tell you when. 

Angela [00:45:00] When? 

Jenna [00:45:01] Timothy Chalamet. Peach. Call Me By Your Name. 

Angela [00:45:07] I haven’t seen it. 

Jenna [00:45:08] Well, you’ll take back everything you just said after you see it. 

Angela [00:45:10] I don’t know. I don’t know if I will. 

Jenna [00:45:13] When he eats that peach, lady. 

Angela [00:45:14] Oh, my God. Oh, good Lord. 

Jenna [00:45:18] Sam, can I get, like, a second on this one? 

Sam [00:45:20] Yes, you are correct. 

Jenna [00:45:21] Thank you, Sam. 

Sam [00:45:22] Yes. 

Angela [00:45:23] Okay. I’ll have to find it. Why is he eating a peach? Is that part of the movie? Is he trying to lure, like, a… 

Jenna [00:45:30] It’s a whole thing. 

Angela [00:45:31] All right, I will watch it, and then I will get on our text thread and I’ll let you know. 

Jenna [00:45:35] I’m scared now, okay. I mean. 

Angela [00:45:38] I guess I’m just an old prude. Like, like there was that commercial where people would eat like a cheeseburger and- 

Jenna [00:45:44] Carl’s Jr. 

Angela [00:45:44] Oh, yeah 

Jenna [00:45:45] Yeah. 

Angela [00:45:45] Not sexy. I don’t want to see you eat a burger like that. 

Jenna [00:45:48] Yeah. Who was the actress who does that or a model? And she really sexily eats that burger. I thought it was sexy.

Angela [00:45:53] It’s not. It’s not sexy. 

Jenna [00:45:56] Clearly I’m the demographic for sexy eating. 

Angela [00:45:59] Who likes sexy eating? I’m like, just eat your burger. I don’t need to watch it. 

Jenna [00:46:03] I mean, I went through the drive thru and ordered that burger. 

Angela [00:46:06] Oh my God, I never want to eat that burger. 

Jenna [00:46:07] It worked on me. 

Angela [00:46:10] Now they’ve decided the most romantic type of flirting they can do is um having a chicken fight in the swimming pool. 

Jenna [00:46:16] Yes. 

Angela [00:46:17] So they start their chicken fighting right in Angela’s swimming lane. Hello? 

Jenna [00:46:22] Yeah. 

Angela [00:46:22] You might have asked yourself, why is Angela Martin going to Robert California’s pool party? I guess, to get some exercise in? 

Jenna [00:46:29] Well, Angela, it’s funny you should mention. Steve Burgess told me that every day after wrap, our director, Charles McDougall, swam laps in that pool for exercise. 

Angela [00:46:38] Oh, my gosh. 

Jenna [00:46:40] So I don’t know! 

Angela [00:46:43] Well, I need to play a bull (BLEEP) card. 

Jenna [00:46:46] What is it? 

Angela [00:46:47] You tell me. You tell me if you see Angela Martin’s pregnant belly. I swam in plain view. Right by Dwight and Erin. Do you see Angela Martin’s belly? 

Jenna [00:46:59] Well, no. I mean, because it’s underwater, right? 

Angela [00:47:01] Exactly. 

Jenna [00:47:02] Oh, boy. 

Angela [00:47:03] Exactly! 

Jenna [00:47:04] Oh, boy. 

Angela [00:47:05] After swimming for a bit and starting to sink because this giant sponge they didn’t think about would actually absorb all the water, I went up to our writer, Owen. I said, Owen, there’s no way you’re seeing my belly. There’s no way. Can I please take this thing out of my bathing suit? 

Jenna [00:47:21] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:47:22] And he was like, I feel like you should have it. We might see it. Something could happen. I was like, Uh huh? Uh huh. Okay. I turned to Matt Sohn, who was shooting all the underwater camera stuff for us, and I said, Matt, are you going to see this preggers belly? He was like, Probably not. So guess what I did? 

Jenna [00:47:42] What? You took it off? 

Angela [00:47:43] I yanked it out. 

Jenna [00:47:44] You did not! 

Angela [00:47:46] I yanked it out. And I slapped it over the side of the pool, and I tucked it behind a chair. 

Jenna [00:47:52] Oh, my God! 

Angela [00:47:53] I am behind the partition! Brian and I are peeking our heads over. 

Jenna [00:47:58] Right. 

Angela [00:47:58] I was like (BLEEP) the fake belly! 

Jenna [00:48:01] Oh boy. 

Angela [00:48:02] I never told anyone that until today. Phyllis knew. She kind of saw me shove it behind the chair. 

Jenna [00:48:10] Next up, Robert is going to show everyone… Is it his bedroom? With his double bearskin rug before they move on to the screening room, which was built for watching erotic cinema. 

Angela [00:48:23] Background catch. Did anyone else catch when Oscar is chugging his wine? There’s a piece of blue tape that says Oscar on the bottom! 

Jenna [00:48:32] Did anyone catch it, Angela? How about Mariah C from Huntington Beach, California, and Isabelle C from London and many others. This is the continuity tape. They would put this on any drink that we ever had to drink or any plate of food. You’d get a little piece of tape with your name on it, so they knew who to give it back to. 

Angela [00:48:50] Well. 

Jenna [00:48:51] They forgot to take it off. 

Angela [00:48:53] You know, at least Oscar’s name is Oscar on the show. 

Jenna [00:48:56] True. 

Angela [00:48:56] Because he could have just been swigging and it might have said John. 

Jenna [00:49:00] Yes. I have a catch for this scene. This item has been in the episode the entire time, but it wasn’t until now that it really hit me, which is that Gabe’s sweater looks like it’s from Minecraft. 

Angela [00:49:12] Yes, it’s a bunch of cubes. 

Jenna [00:49:14] And it’s green. 

Angela [00:49:15] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:49:16] I guess you can tell we have kids. 

Angela [00:49:19] Yeah, we both have done birthday cakes that were Minecraft theme. 

Jenna [00:49:23] Yes. I made my son a minecraft birthday cake. 

Angela [00:49:26] Josh made Cade one one year. 

Jenna [00:49:28] Oh, will you put them in pod because I’m real proud of it. 

Angela [00:49:30] Oh, yeah I will! They both turned out so cute. Well, Andy is going to attempt to get the ring back from Kelly by convincing her it’s bad luck to wear the ring of possibly a failed marriage. You don’t know the history this ring has had. Phyllis agrees. You guys, I looked this up online, and this is a common superstition. 

Jenna [00:49:49] Oh, really? 

Angela [00:49:50] Mm hmm. According to one article I read, it said you should never try on someone else’s wedding ring. Wedding rings are believed to carry spiritual ties. By wearing someone else’s wedding ring, especially one of a broken marriage, you could potentially predestine your wedding fate. For instance, if the wedding ring belongs to an unhappy couple, then potentially your marriage could also become miserable. 

Jenna [00:50:13] Well, I want to show you what I’m wearing right now. 

Angela [00:50:15] I know. I knew when I shared this that you were going to be like, Um, you might want to pump the brakes because… 

Jenna [00:50:22] I am wearing my grandmother’s wedding ring. That was passed on to me when she died. 

Angela [00:50:28] It’s beautiful. 

Jenna [00:50:29] And I wear it specifically because my grandma and my grandpa were true love. One of the things that I know about them that was so clear when you were around them was that they were so utterly committed to one another. And everything they went through in their lives, the one thing you could count on was their love for one another. And I feel that way about my own marriage. I feel like Lee is my true love. And so I like to have double true love on my hands. 

Angela [00:50:57] I love that. Kelly and Phyllis are going to decide the ring needs to be destroyed. 

Jenna [00:51:02] Yeah, they put it in a little boat and they like set it on fire. 

Angela [00:51:06] A paper boat. 

Jenna [00:51:07] Where is that going? Obviously into the pool. 

Angela [00:51:11] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:51:11] Or maybe the pool’s filtration system, and then the pool is going to break. I don’t know. It’s very odd. They’re acting like they’re like a pond or a river. They’re in an indoor swimming pool. 

Angela [00:51:21] I know. Jess and Andy now decide to join the chicken fight. And they proceed to kick ass. 

Jenna [00:51:28] Yeah, they do very well. This is another reason I like Jessica. She’s up for it. She’s like, I’ll do your weird pool game at your very odd party at the home of your creepy boss. I’m here for you!

Angela [00:51:40] Yeah, let’s go! Well, there was a deleted Jessica talking head about her chicken fighting skills. Here it is. Jessica says, My brother and I were the chicken fight champions of our swim club growing up. I mean, we beat the Strauss twins. Oh, okay. I guess somebody didn’t grow up in West Hartford, Connecticut. 

Jenna [00:52:00] Oh, that was funny. 

Angela [00:52:01] Uh huh. They beat the Strauss twins. 

Jenna [00:52:03] Well, we had a fan question from Sara W in Texas who said, During the check in fight scene, please track the case of the disappearing, reappearing bruise on Jessica’s leg. 

Angela [00:52:13] Oh, no. 

Jenna [00:52:13] I totally noticed this, too, Sarah. Yes. In the different shots, you either see a bruise or you see what is very clearly some light makeup that was placed over the bruise to hide it. So my theory is that in the first take of this, they noticed there’s a bruise and they called in makeup. They had them put some waterproof makeup on it, but then they still ended up using some of the first take. 

Angela [00:52:37] Hmm. Well, the chicken fighting is going to come to an end because Erin is so determined to beat Jessica, she clenches down and suffocates Dwight. He passes out. 

Jenna [00:52:47] Yes. He goes under the water. We had a fan question from Brandon R in Illinois who said, Were there any added complications for filming in and around and under water? I imagine there had to be a safety meeting for Dwight’s fake drowning. Well, Brandon, Steve Burgess said we had a stunt coordinator for all of those chicken fight scenes. We also had a lifeguard on duty every day. We used an underwater rig for shooting Dwight under the water. And Steve said we’d actually intended to shoot more underwater stuff, but we ran out of time. 

Angela [00:53:17] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:53:18] But yeah, and then, of course, you know, we had the shock blocker. So there was a lot of added stuff. 

Angela [00:53:23] Well, in the background of a few shots, you will see yellow lifeguard, floaty things. They were leaning up next to some pool noodles, but there are actual lifeguard, like, saving devices. You would not believe the safety meeting that went down when we shot these pool scenes. It was like epic safety meeting, especially when they lit the paper on fire. It was like, we have lights, we have water, we have electrical lines, we have an open flame! Or if anyone’s feeling tired, we have lifeguard buoy things! Like they were pointing everything out all the time. 

Jenna [00:54:00] Well, Dwight is going to come to and he’s going to go talk to Andy about Erin. He’s trying to imply you’re making a big mistake. 

Angela [00:54:09] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:54:10] But Andy doesn’t get it. Andy’s like, It’s fine. If you want to date Erin, you can date Erin. I’m with Jessica. 

Angela [00:54:17] But I do think Dwight planted a little seed of doubt that was maybe already there. 

Jenna [00:54:22] Yeah. 

Angela [00:54:23] I wanted to point out one thing as we’re coming to the close of this episode. Did you notice Phyllis’s beautiful bathing suit dress? 

Jenna [00:54:31] Yes. 

Angela [00:54:32] She loved it so much. We loved it. We all thought she looked so pretty in it. So I did a little photoshoot with her by the side of the pool. 

Jenna [00:54:41] You did? 

Angela [00:54:42] I did. I was like, Phyllis, this outfit is too cute. We need to take a picture of it. I just love this picture of her. I’ll put it in our stories. 

Jenna [00:54:49] Well, around this time, Darryl’s had enough. He’s going to get in the water. He decides being with Val is more important than worrying about what he looks like. He takes off his shirt, he does a big cannonball, and Val is totally delighted. This is when Erin is going to swim up to Andy. Guess what she found at the bottom of the pool? 

Angela [00:55:09] The engagement ring. 

Jenna [00:55:10] And she knows that it’s a family heirloom because it has the Bernard Family seal on it. And this is another way where Andy’s like, Oh, she really knows me. 

Angela [00:55:19] She knows me. 

Jenna [00:55:21] Mhmm. Well, Robert’s tour is complete. They’ve made it back to the pool area. Jim is still trying to leave. And this is when Robert is going to look around and he is going to realize that this thing that he’s wanted to happen in his house all along is happening. 

Angela [00:55:38] Yes! 

Jenna [00:55:38] People are loose and they’re drinking and they’re laughing. 

Angela [00:55:43] Oscar is Bacchus, God of wine. 

Jenna [00:55:44] Yes. 

Angela [00:55:45] Well, during the montage, when Robert’s looking around, if you were also curious why Creed is laying on the ground playing the guitar in a black Speedo wearing a gold crown, I was right there with you. 

Jenna [00:55:56] I did not notice this. 

Angela [00:55:58] You didn’t see Creed wearing a gold crown on his head? 

Jenna [00:56:01] No, we didn’t get any mail about it either. 

Angela [00:56:04] Come on! 

Jenna [00:56:05] I- not that I saw! 

Angela [00:56:06] Okay, Well, I was incredibly curious. I was like, Why does Creed have a gold crown? Where did this come from? I went to the shooting draft and there was a deleted scene. 

Jenna [00:56:15] What? 

Angela [00:56:16] It said, Interior: Robert’s bedroom. Creed cracks open Robert’s safe. He finds a velvet box and carefully opens it. Inside is a crown. Creed says the following: Ah, here it is. Creed takes out a pocket knife and begins to pry a diamond from the crown. 

Jenna [00:56:36] He took the diamond out, and though also kept the crown. 

Angela [00:56:39] And wore it in front of Robert, so Robert would have known immediately that he cracked open his safe. Also, why does Robert have an elaborate gold crown? 

Jenna [00:56:49] That was not explained. 

Angela [00:56:50] Maybe that’s part of his generational wealth. 

Jenna [00:56:52] Mmm. Supports your theory. 

Angela [00:56:54] Yes, it does. 

Jenna [00:56:56] Well, Robert’s going to be so excited by what he sees, he’s going to take off all of his clothes in front of all of his employees, and he’s going to go swimming. 

Angela [00:57:04] Backstroke, no less! 

Jenna [00:57:06] Yes, That was specifically noted in the script that he does a backstroke. 

Angela [00:57:10] Was there anything from standards and practices about the blurred of the crotch area? 

Jenna [00:57:15] Oh, yes, lady, there sure was. Steve Burgess gets his first “As previously noted…” 

Angela [00:57:22] Ohh! 

Jenna [00:57:23] Because, you know, Ryan and Gabe also get undressed and get into the pool. And of course, you all know they were not actually naked. 

Angela [00:57:32] No one was naked. 

Jenna [00:57:34] They were wearing nude shorts. However, Steve Burgess said they all had to sign nudity waivers nonetheless. But Steve said we also got this note from standards and practices: As previously noted, please blur all nudity here and throughout. Nothing should be visible through the effect. That was their note on the scene. 

Angela [00:57:55] Okay. I did laugh really hard at how Gabe just falls in with his pants half on his feet. 

Jenna [00:58:02] You know who else loved that was Rachel K from Denton, Texas. You know what? That was not scripted. Zach couldn’t get his pants off. Steve Burgess said that he improvised that, and everyone kind of freaked out because they’re like, Is he going to be able to swim with his legs bound up like that? But it worked. And that’s the take we used. 

Angela [00:58:23] It’s really funny. Well, that pretty much wraps up Pool Party. No one really wanted to hang around after that. 

Jenna [00:58:29] That’s right. I mean, Jim drove over some bushes to finally go home. 

Angela [00:58:33] He was like, get me the hell out of here. 

Jenna [00:58:35] But we did have one final fan question from Haley M in Shawnee, Oklahoma, who said, Did the cast get to have a pool party behind the scenes? Because that sounds like it could be a lot of fun. I wasn’t there, Hayley, but, Angela, I’m imagining that when you wrapped, you all were very happy to get away from the pool. 

Angela [00:58:54] We were done. We were like, We’ve been in the pool all day. We’re out. 

Jenna [00:59:00] There was, however, something going on during the shooting of this episode that was quite fun, which is that the Saint Louis Cardinals were in the World Series! And as you know, we had a lot of Saint Louis folks on our crew and in our cast. And Ellie Kemper sent in a clip about it. 

Ellie Kemper [00:59:17] Jenna, I remember the Saint Louis Cardinals were in the World Series at the time. I had this memory of them being in the World Series, and Phyllis kept sneaking out to the van to listen to the game on the radio. So go Saint Louis! Go Pool Party. Okay. That’s all my deep thoughts about Pool Party. Thanks, ladies!

Jenna [00:59:39] Well, Steve Burgess said that in addition to having the game on inside the vans, they also had it on a TV outside. Lady. This game was huge. This was the St Louis Cardinals versus the Texas Rangers. And you know, Lee is from Texas. 

Angela [00:59:57] Yes. 

Jenna [00:59:57] Well, my son was one month old. My sister came out to visit. She brought all kinds of Cardinals gear for my son to wear. And Lee and I had an agreement where we either had to alternate the Saint Louis Cardinals onesie and the Texas Rangers onesie, or he had to wear a little bit of each team. 

Angela [01:00:15] Aww. 

Jenna [01:00:16] So, listen. Game six of that World Series is epic because of David Freese. I won’t go on and on, but oh, my gosh, first of all, he ties it up and then he has a walk off homer in the 11th inning for them to win that game, which they needed to win in order to get to the seventh game. For the seventh game of the World Series, I sneaked two Cardinals socks on my son’s feet and the Cardinals won! And I think that’s why. 

Angela [01:00:44] I love Arlington Stadium. We would go there and watch ballgames. It’s beautiful. You’re making me want to go to a baseball game. 

Jenna [01:00:49] I know. Well, listen, everybody, that was Pool Party. But before we leave, I think we need to have a birthday party! 

Angela [01:01:00] What?!

Jenna [01:01:02] Because, Angela Kinsey, we are recording this episode right before we go on our summer break. Your birthday is June 25th and we’re going to be on vacation for your birthday. I hope I did a good job as party coordinator this time. 

Angela [01:01:16] I can’t believe you remembered this. I also can’t believe I almost forgot to pick you up this morning. 

Jenna [01:01:21] I know. 

Angela [01:01:22] I’ve been driving Jenna to work. We’ve been carpooling. It’s been so fun. 

Jenna [01:01:26] I’ve really enjoyed it because of my broken shoulder. 

Angela [01:01:28] And this morning I was on autopilot and I just got on the freeway and went the wrong way. 

Jenna [01:01:33] I was so worried. How am I going to hide the birthday stuff because you’re driving me to work? So that’s why I had a giant bag with me today. You didn’t ask. Thank goodness. Here’s your present, Ange.  

Angela [01:01:44] You’re so sweet. I can’t believe this. This is so cute. Oh, my gosh. I didn’t do my hair or anything today. 

Jenna [01:01:50] I know. I thought of that. You said I didn’t have time to get ready. I’m going to show up in my pajamas. And I was like, well, we might be taking some pictures. 

Angela [01:01:58] Oh you got me a succulent?! 

Jenna [01:01:59] Of course. 

Angela [01:02:01] Aww! Wait, I got to fish it out. 

Jenna [01:02:03] I didn’t get you any like, birthday sweet treat, because I know Josh does that. You have plenty of sweet treats. Oh, the pen is mine. Sorry.

Angela [01:02:14] Oh, this is so cute. I love a succulent. And you got me something in the- you got me a little piece of- what is it? You guys. It’s a hummingbird necklace. 

Jenna [01:02:27] It’s a little gold hummingbird. 

Angela [01:02:30] It is so frickin cute. I love it so much! I’m putting it on right now. 

Jenna [01:02:36] Hummingbirds and succulents equal Angela. And we’ve got a card out there for you, too. Everyone signed it. 

Angela [01:02:42] I love it. Thank you, guys! 

Jenna [01:02:45] Aw, Happy birthday, Angela! Happy Pool Party! Thank you, Steve Burgess and Ellie Kemper and Ameenah. 

Angela [01:02:52] And Matt Flynn and all of you guys for writing in with your questions and comments. We love you guys. 

Jenna Oh! Oh! Lady, wait.

Angela What?

Jenna One more thing before we go. This episode is gonna be airing in August.

Angela August?

Jenna Yes. So we should remind everyone about our live show that’s going to be in Toronto on September 21 as part of the Just For Laughs Festival.

Angela Oh yes, we are so excited. 

Jenna So excited.

Angela We had such a blast at Just for Laughs in Vancouver and we can’t wait to do it again.

Jenna Yes, and tickets are still available.

Angela I’ll put a link in OfficeLadiesPod stories.

Jenna Great. Ok, now we can go.

Angela Bye!

Jenna [01:03:05]  Bye! Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. 

Angela [01:03:07] Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer, and Angela Kinsey. 

Jenna [01:03:11] Our senior producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our in-studio engineer is Sam Kieffer. Our editing and mixing engineer is Jordan Duffy, and our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico. 

Angela [01:03:21] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton.